Kids And Chemicals

The people of the Yaqui Valley of Mexico underwent a split when
modern farming and pesticides were introduced in the early 1950s. Those
in the valley floor embraced the use of insecticides, herbicides, and
other agricultural chemicals. Spraying for insects also became common
in their homes.

In the foothills, farmers preferred the
traditional ranching and agricultural methods. This group shunned
pesticides. Today, these communities are similar in the terms of
modernization, diet, and lifestyle, although the difference in their
use of pesticides continues. What have these choices meant for their
children?

I
recognized a research opportunity when I heard of the
Yaqui Valley, where these distinctive paths highlighted consequences
from the use of chemicals that otherwise are difficult to
isolate.

At
first I wanted to study cancer. I was still thinking in terms of
dramatic, obvious disaster, like that found in laboratory rats
subjected to huge amounts of chemicals. But the mothers in the valley
insisted that I look at broader, more subtle effects. They suspected
chemicals were affecting their children, but could not identify
specifics. To uncover hidden impacts, I asked children, ages four and
five, to perform a series of play activities representative of
developmental levels. I found that the pesticide-exposed children were
less proficient at catching a ball, reflective of poor eye-hand
coordination. They had lower stamina levels, measured by jumping
contests. When asked to recall a gift of a balloon and its color, many
could not remember the gift, and very few remembered the color. The
children who had grown up without exposure to agricultural chemicals
always remembered the gift and usually its color.

Most striking
were their drawings of people. The pesticide-exposed four-year-olds of
the valley made scribbles and the five-year-olds frequently made a
circle at the bottom of the paper and a line upward to represent the
body. Others drew odd shapes with abstract divisions, where dots
represented eyes and enclosed areas were body parts. The drawings of
the children who lived in the foothills, on the other hand, accurately
placed body parts and facial features.

Two years later, at ages
six and seven, the children exposed to pesticides continued to lag
behind. Their drawings were commensurate to those of four-year-olds who
had not been exposed. Their stamina remained low, their coordination
poor. Simple problem solving, easy for the foothill group, was
difficult for the valley children. The exposed children exhibited
symptoms of illness at a rate three to four times that of the others.
They had a high rate of upper respiratory infection and other symptoms
such as allergies and rashes.

The children who have grown up
exposed to pesticides may never reach their full potentials as
functioning members of society. In this, the Yaqui Valley is not
unique. Contamination is global; every child is exposed to various
pesticides to some degree. While the children I studied are highly
exposed to a few toxins, probably more than the average American child,
American children are exposed to multiple toxins. These can add up and
interact, causing significant effects that we don't yet recognize.

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Elizabeth
Guillette is a research scientist in anthropology at the University of
Florida. Adapted from Alternatives Journal: Canadian Environmental
Ideas and Action, 28:1 (2002). Annual subscriptions $25.00 (plus GST)
from Alternatives Journal, Faculty of Environmental Studies, University
of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 www.alternativesjournal.ca